"Mommy, she has her arms painted just like Cameron." The young child told his mother, tugging on her jacket as I finished up my bouquet for them.
"Honey, hush. That's rude." She quickly shushed him, clearly embarrassed that he was asking to make note of my tattooed skin.
"Oh, it's alright. I really don't mind." I said, smiling at her.
I was actually encouraged by his curiosity and his desire to learn and ask about things he didn't know about. Nowadays, people didn't ask many questions anymore, they just wanted to stick with what they knew and what those in charge told us we could know. Sure, he wasn't exactly asking for the meaning of life by wondering about my tattoos, but it was a start. I truly hoped his mother would allow that curiosity in this young one to grow and bloom as it should be allowed to.
"Can I see them?" He asked, his eyes lighting up at me.
"Of course!" I told him.
Putting their vase of flowers down, I walked around the counter and kneeled down in front of the beyond-adorable little boy. I stretched out my arms, allowing the art on my skin to be fully displayed for his excited eyes. He grinned at all of the colors on my pale skin, and ran his little finger over the lines, tracing the words and images that I had forever ingrained in my skin.
"May I ask where Zak is? He's normally here in the morning, well at least this time in the morning. Is he alright?" The mother wondered.
"I wish I could tell you. He hasn't shown up, and I've gotten no calls, no letters, no nothing. I'm hoping he ended up just sleeping in and forgetting to turn his phone on." I told her, shrugging my shoulders.
"Well, if it means anything to you, I much appreciate your assistance more than his. I can always put in a good word with Cameron, or possibly even Ricky for you to see if I can't get you switched to the earlier shift. I have a good friend whose daughter works as one of their receptionists." The woman said.
"Oh no! Please don't! I appreciate that, but I don't want them to have to worry about little old me. It's really not that big of an idea." I told her, not wanting my name to be brought up to any of them in any fucking capacity.
"Are you and Cameron friends?" The young boy asked me.
"What makes you ask that?" I wondered.
"He has a lot of spooky Halloween tattoos, too. Also, at school, we once got a bouquet of flowers for him since he was stopping into class, and he told us he thought the flower girl was cute." He told me with an innocent smile.
He was absolutely adorable, but what he was telling me quite honestly was making me sick. Yes, I lived in Scranton which was ruled by Cameron and his power-hungry lackies, but I still tried to live my life without ever crossing paths with them. My running into Ben just the other week was the first encounter, and I really hadn't been hoping for anymore. This mainly came from the fact that I hated them and everything they had done to our country after it was already ruined, but...I may have been living a lie here in Scranton. In Maine, I was born and raised Layla Burns who was going to school to be an occupational therapy assistant, but I changed that once I got stuck in ye old Electric City. I had become Bea Hutchins who previously worked as a barista.
I wasn't sure if that was something that they'd be rather angry about, but based on what I have and continue to hear about those men, their fuses are rather short. I didn't want to know what the punishment was for completely lying to everyone in this city about my true identity.
"Do you think he's cute?" The little boy grinned up at me.
"He's...alright." I shrugged.
"What's this?" He asked me, giving a scope as to just how wide his curiosity roamed.
"That's a hummingbird. They're my absolute favorite birds in the whole wide world." I told him, as he pointed out the tattoo on my ankle.
"Why?" He wondered.
"Well, they're incredibly small but they're rather amazing creatures. They fight hard and flap their wings like crazy, but they do it and look as graceful as any other bird, if not more. I think they relate to us humans as well. The whole world is huge and things often seem far bigger than us, but if we keep fighting hard and flapping those little wings, we can stay beautiful and not let anyone keep us from flying." I explained, watching his eyes grow with excitement at that comparison.
After telling him that, I finished up their vase of flowers, making sure it was as perfect as I could get it.
"Thank you." The woman whispered to me.
"No problem, it's my job," I said, forcing a smile at that.
"No, not for the flowers, although I'm thankful for that too. I was talking about giving him so much hope...talking so positively. That's hard to come by nowadays." She sighed.
"You have to make your own light in the dark." I shrugged.
"Indeed, my dear. Stay safe and hopefully I'll be able to see you again if you get to work later in the morning." She smiled.
"I hope so as well, You guys have a great day," I told them.
The little boy ran over to me and gave me a hug and a high-five before he trotted out of the store behind his mother. I smiled at his happy little trot and skipping, he was so oblivious to what was going on in our world...I'd give up everything I had to be able to have that same state of mind. It was true that ignorance was bliss, but oblivion was something even stronger than bliss.
Customers continued to flow in for the rest of the morning, all surprised yet a bit delighted to see that Zak was not there. I enjoyed seeing the smiles on their faces, but it also made me uncomfortable. I hadn't previously realized just how hidden I had been from society, and with each person I met, I was only opening myself up to people that might have ties to Cameron and the rest of the guys. That made me nervous, and I kept just praying that Zak would show up any time soon.
After the last customer of the day came in, I had given up hope of Zak coming here anytime soon. That meant I was stuck here for basically another 15+ hours. When I saw him next I would be extremely tempted to bash his skull in, but I'd just have to bite my tongue and be complacent as always.
"Fuck this!" I screamed, chucking the closest thing to me, a stapler, at the front wall.
"Wow! Easy there!" The barista said, the one I recognized from about a week ago when I ran into Josh.
"Shit, I'm so sorry. I didn't hit you did I?" I asked, worried.
"No, dear. That was quite a pitch though." She giggled, bringing a large basket up to my desk and setting it down.
"How can I help you?" I wondered.
"It's actually how I can help you," She said, handing me an envelope.
I opened it up and read over the note which happened to not have the name of the sender on it. It basically read that Zak would not be coming in for an entire week, which meant that I was to be here in this shop for that entire time. Apparently, this gift basket was full of snacks for me, and different restaurants and cafes close to the flower shop would take turns in providing me with meals for the time being.
"Don't shoot the messenger." She whispered.
"I won't, don't worry. It's just...I'm processing it all right now." I sighed.
"Can you tell me who sent this letter?" I asked her.
"You already know. I know you do." She told me.
She was unfortunately correct.
"Well, I'll see you later tonight. The cafe's been assigned to get you fed today so I'll stop by a little later with some good food to hopefully brighten your spirits with some caffeine as well." She said with a smile.
"That's much appreciated, thank you." I thanked her.
With a smile and a nod of her head, she exited the shop, leaving me to myself once again.
"Zak, where the fuck are you? What are you doing?" I hissed.
I'd never wanted to see that blazed stoner, but I was dying to see him now.